Who are lite users?
Lite users in an organization are those who will not own a Zoho One license. Contract employees, accountants, blue-collar employees, event organizers, clients, freelancers, and partners can be added as lite users in your organization.
A lite user license provides access to only specific applications with limited functionality compared to a user who owns a Zoho One license. This saves costs for users who do not need full access to all Zoho One apps.
What are the supported licenses ?
There are two types of licenses you can choose from:
- Zoho One license
- Lite user license
By default, Zoho One license will be selected when adding a user. In lite user license, multiple add-ons are available based on your needs. A user can be assigned one or multiple add-ons in an organization.
What are the lite user add-ons available?
- Mail-Only
- Books - Lite Accountant
Prerequisites
- Organization with a lite user add-on
- Roles required to perform this action:
- Organization Owner
- Organization Admin
The steps for lite user related actions vary between the two User Interface versions supported in Zoho One. Select the UI version you use from the tabs below and proceed with the steps that follow.
Spaces UI
How to add lite users in Zoho One?
- Sign in to Zoho One, then click
in the top-right corner.
- Click Users, then click Add User. How to add user info?
- Click Continue after adding user info.
- Choose a license:
Zoho One - full app access (Click Add License if none available)
Lite User - selected apps and roles (select at least one add-on, assign a role/profile per app, then click Done.)

- Click Assign.
- Next, click Add. The sign-in credentials will be sent to the user. You can also choose to send it to yourself.
Once you click Done, you can see the applications you have assigned to the user.
Mail-only add-on can be selected only if the organization has mail-hosted domain.
How to bulk import lite users?
- Sign in to Zoho One, then click
in the top-right corner.
- Click Users, then click
.
- Click Import.
- Upload the user data file and its Character Encoding, then click Next.

- Under LICENSE INFORMATION, select one license type (both cannot be chosen together).
Lite User - select preferred add-ons, assign a role/profile per app, click Done. - Click Assign. Repeat step 5, if you want to select more add-ons.
- Map the fields between the user data file and Zoho. If no Password field exists, set a common one-time password for all imported users. The
users will be prompted to set a password at their first sign-in. Then, click Next.
- Resolve any flagged import errors or skip them to import the rest.
- If licenses are insufficient, you must add licenses to import them. Under WHAT YOU
CAN DO, click Add Licenses to upgrade.
- Click Continue Import to finish.
If
any existing user in the organization is added again via import, their
license will not be updated with the newly applied license.
Activate a lite user
- Sign in to Zoho One, then click
in the top-right corner.
- Click Users, then click on a deactivated user.
- Click Activate.
- You can change the license for the user here. By default, the previously associated license will be selected.
Under Apps Assigned,
all the apps in which the user was a part of before deactivating will
be listed. You can check or uncheck from the apps listed.
Apps
that were disabled or unassigned by this user during deactivation will
be checked by default. Other apps that were unassigned before
deactivation won't be checked by default.
- To edit the role of the app, hover over the app and click Edit. Change the role and click Update.
To add more applications, click

.
If you assign a new app or role from APPS TO TRY, it will change the license of a lite user to the Zoho One plan.
- Once selected, click Assign.
- Click Activate.
Assign application to users
- Sign in to Zoho One, then click
in the top-right corner.
- Go to Applications, then click on the app you need to assign.
- Click Assign Users, then go to the Individual tab.
- Choose the users by manually searching for their name, or by using the user picker
.
Click Assign.
Users without conflict will be imported, whereas users with conflict will require your action to proceed.
- Once reviewed, click Import.
Assign lite users as admins
- Sign in to Zoho One, then click
in the top-right corner.
- Go to Admins, then click Assign Admin in the top-right corner.
- Select the users and their roles. If you have multiple users to select, click
, then click Select Users or click Attach File to upload the required file with the users list.
Under roles, you can select any preferred role.
You cannot assign a lite user as an Organization Admin. Only a user with Zoho One license can be assigned.
If you select Organization Admin under Role and then select your preferred options under ADMINS CAN MANAGE, an
alert info saying "The user's license will be changed to Zoho One plan"
will be displayed. Click Assign to proceed, if you want. Else, click Remove user to choose a different user.
A lite user can be assigned as an Application Admin only in lite user-supported applications.
Update license for a user
- Sign in to Zoho One, then click
in the top-right corner.
- Click Users, then click on a user.
- Click
, then click Update License.
- Select the required license and click Change License.
- If you currently have a Zoho One license and plan to switch to a Lite user license, upon clicking Change License, any possible conflicts can be raised as alert info. If okay, again click Change License to update.
Review license for a user
- Sign in to Zoho One, then click
in the top-right corner.
- Click Reports, then click License Utilization under License.
- A
list of users with their current licenses will be listed, along with
suggested licenses. You can either choose to review or ignore them.
To review license,
- Click Review License for a user.
- A more appropriate license for the user will be suggested to save costs. Select from the suggested licenses, then click Change License.
Licenses of users associated with devices or the RADIUS feature cannot be changed to lite user licenses.
Add extended apps to Zoho One
Extended
apps are applications built by Zoho Corp and are not a part of the Zoho
One license. They can be seamlessly integrated with Zoho One by adding
them as paid add-ons.
- Sign in to Zoho One, then click
in the top-right corner.
- Go to Applications, then click Add Application.
- Find Other apps from Zoho Corp in the drop-down and click.
- Click Add next to your required app from the list. Click Enable Trial if you wish to explore the application under the trial plan before adding it to Zoho One.
Unified UI
How to add lite users in Zoho One?
- Sign in to Zoho One, then click Directory in the left menu.
- Click Users, then click Add User. How to add user info?
- Click Continue after adding user info.
- Choose a license:
Zoho One - full app access (Click Add License if none available)
Lite User - selected apps and roles (select at least one add-on, assign a role/profile per app, then click Done.)
- Click Assign.
- Next, click Add. The sign-in credentials will be sent to the user. You can also choose to send it to yourself.
Once you click Done, you can see the applications you have assigned to the user.
Mail-only add-on can be selected only if the organization has mail-hosted domain.
How to bulk import lite users?
- Sign in to Zoho One, then click Directory in the left menu.
- Click Users, then click
.
- Click Import.
- Upload the user data file and its Character Encoding, then click Next.
- Under LICENSE INFORMATION, select one license type (both cannot be chosen together).
Lite User - select preferred add-ons, assign a role/profile per app, click Done. - Click Assign. Repeat step 5, if you want to select more add-ons.
- Map the fields between the user data file and Zoho. If no Password field exists, set a common one-time password for all imported users. The
users will be prompted to set a password at their first sign-in. Then, click Next.
- Resolve any flagged import errors or skip them to import the rest.
- If licenses are insufficient, you must add licenses to import them. Under WHAT YOU
CAN DO, click Add Licenses to upgrade.
- Click Continue Import to finish.
If any existing user in the organization is added again via import, their license will not be updated with the newly applied license.
Activate a lite user
- Sign in to Zoho One, then click Directory in the left menu.
- Click Users, then click on a deactivated user.
- Click Activate.
- You can change the license for the user here. By default, the previously associated license will be selected.
Under Apps Assigned, all the apps in which the user was a part of before deactivating will be listed. You can check or uncheck from the apps listed.
Apps that were disabled or unassigned by this user during deactivation will be checked by default. Other apps that were unassigned before deactivation won't be checked by default.
- To edit the role of the app, hover over the app and click Edit. Change the role and click Update.
To add more applications, click

.
If you assign a new app or role from APPS TO TRY, it will change the license of a lite user to the Zoho One plan.
- Once selected, click Assign.
- Click Activate.
Assign application to users
- Sign in to Zoho One, then click Directory in the left menu.
- Go to Applications, then click on the app you need to assign.
- Click Assign Users, then go to the Individual tab.
- Choose the users by manually searching for their name, or by using the user picker
.
Click Assign.
Users without conflict will be imported, whereas users with conflict will require your action to proceed.
- Once reviewed, click Import.
Assign lite users as admins
- Sign in to Zoho One, then click Directory in the left menu.
- Go to Admins, then click Assign Admin in the top-right corner.
- Select the users and their roles. If you have multiple users to select, click
, then click Select Users or click Attach File to upload the required file with the users list.
Under roles, you can select any preferred role.
You cannot assign a lite user as an Organization Admin. Only a user with Zoho One license can be assigned.
If you select Organization Admin under Role and then select your preferred options under ADMINS CAN MANAGE, an alert info saying "The user's license will be changed to Zoho One plan" will be displayed. Click Assign to proceed, if you want. Else, click Remove user to choose a different user.
A lite user can be assigned as an Application Admin only in lite user-supported applications.
Update license for a user
- Sign in to Zoho One, then click Directory in the left menu.
- Click Users, then click on a user.
- Click
, then click Update License.
- Select the required license and click Change License.
- If you currently have a Zoho One license and plan to switch to a Lite user license, upon clicking Change License, any possible conflicts can be raised as alert info. If okay, again click Change License to update.
Review license for a user
- Sign in to Zoho One, then click Directory in the left menu.
- Click Reports, then click License Utilization under License.
- A list of users with their current licenses will be listed, along with suggested licenses. You can either choose to review or ignore them.
To review license,
- Click Review License for a user.
- A more appropriate license for the user will be suggested to save costs. Select from the suggested licenses, then click Change License.
Licenses of users associated with devices or the RADIUS feature cannot be changed to lite user licenses.
Add extended apps to Zoho One
Extended apps are applications built by Zoho Corp and are not a part of the Zoho One license. They can be seamlessly integrated with Zoho One by adding them as paid add-ons.
- Sign in to Zoho One, then click Directory in the left menu.
- Go to Applications, then click Add Application.
- Find Other apps from Zoho Corp in the bottom-right corner and click Browse.
- Click Add next to your required app from the list. Click Enable Trial if you wish to explore the application under the trial plan before adding it to Zoho One.